What do Jussie Smollett and Harvey Weinstein have in common?

Apparently, a high-powered celebrity public relations firm.

The black gay actor in Fox’s “Empire” is making a publicity push amid lingering questions and increasing doubt about his recent claim to have been targeted in a hate crime perpetrated by Trump-supporting homophobic racists.

The PR firm leading the campaign: Sunshine Sachs.

Founder Ken Sunshine assured People in 2015 that Harvey Weinstein is an innocent man who “will be fully vindicated.”

The firm’s high-dollar spinmasters also represented Justin Timberlake during the infamous Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction with Janet Jackson, and helped defend ousted Merrill Lynch chief executive John Thain’s reputation.

Sunshine Sachs’ client list also includes celebrities like Jon Bon Jovi and Barbara Streisand, according to The Wall Street Journal.

This week, the firm fired back at reporters and others who have highlighted Smollett’s odd behavior both the night of and two weeks since the alleged attack.

“Jussie is the victim here, which has been stated by the Superintendent of Police. Jussie has voluntarily provided his phone records from within an hour of the attack and given multiple statements to police. Chicago PD has repeatedly informed us that they find Jussie’s account of what happened that night consistent and credible,” Smollett’s rep, Chris Bastardi of Sunshine Sachs, wrote in a prepared statement cited by WLS.

Bastardi repeatedly reiterated Smollett is a victim, and claimed the actor redacted his phone records before providing a copy to Chicago police “to protect the privacy of personal contacts or high-profile individuals not relevant to the attack.”

Several weeks ago, Smollett told police he was attacked by bigots on his way home from a late night walk to a Subway near his downtown home. Wearing a clothesline noose when police arrived 45 minutes after the alleged incident, Smollett claimed two men were loitering outside in the subzero temperatures around 2 a.m. when they recognized him a loudly mocked “that fa**ot Empire ni**er.” The men – wearing ski masks – punched him in the face, doused him with bleach, and put the noose around his neck before running off and yelling about “MAGA country,” Smollett told police.

Smollett’s manager also claimed to have overheard the allegedly racist remarks because he was on the phone with the actor during the attack.

Initial reports claimed Smollett suffered fractured ribs and required hospitalization, but he later revealed his ribs were merely “bruised” and he was treated and released. A couple days after the attack, Smollett performed in concert, where he danced vigorously on stage and proclaimed himself “gay Tupac.”

You Might Like
Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Chicago police poured through hundreds of hours of video surveillance and confirmed Smollett walked to Subway and back, though there’s no video evidence of the attack, the attackers, their vehicle, or any other collaborating evidence. Reports also surfaced that Smollett refused to allow police to examine is phone, as did his manager, making it impossible for investigators to confirm his story. Video along the route track Smollett virtually the entire time, with the exception of about a minute in which he claims to have been attacked.

Police did uncover one surveillance video showing two “people of interest” walking away from the scene of the alleged attack well before Smollett said it occurred. Video from Smollett’s building revealed he didn’t bother to mention the attack to the lobby attendant, though he did manage to save his bleach soaked Subway sandwich.

Locals who live in Smollett’s building have since told reporters they don’t believe a hate crime occurred in the neighborhood, which is among the most liberal in Chicago – a very liberal city itself.

Numerous Democrat politicians and candidates for 2020 expressed sympathy for Smollett virtually the instant he posted about the ordeal on social media, including Sen. Kamala Harris, who described the attack as a “modern day lynching.”

Smollett – known for his Trump Twitter rants – campaigned with Harris on racial issues in 2018, and some have noted the curious timing of the alleged attack in relation to anti-lynching legislation Harris introduced in the Senate.

The bill passed the Senate in December but died in the House at the end of the 115th Congress.

Harris and co-sponsor Sen. Corey Booker both loudly condemned the alleged “lynching” in Chicago, and Booker pointed again to Smollett when the Senate voted to send the measure back to the House on Thursday.

The bill would make lynching a federal hate crime.

“We must confront hate in our country,” Harris said on the Senate floor, according to The Hill. “We are now making clear there will be serious, swift and severe consequences.”

Many are questioning whether Smollett will face that same kind of justice if his story continues to unravel.